This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application Nos. 4-75469, 4-75470 and 4-75471 filed on Feb. 25, 1992, which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a TV camera work control apparatus using a tripod head and, more particularly, to the camera work control for shooting under preset conditions while directing TV cameras in given directions by remote control.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a scene is shot by a TV camera, the position and the angle of the subject are varied in accordance with preset conditions by remote-controlling one or a plurality of TV cameras. For this purpose, a system apparatus including a TV camera mounted on a tripod head is used.
FIG. 13 shows the structure of a conventional TV camera work control apparatus using a tripod head. A TV camera 2 having a lens portion 1 is mounted on a tripod head 4 which is supported by a column 3. The tripod head 4 accommodates a driving mechanism which pans (moves) the TV camera 2 (in the horizontal direction) by horizontal rotation or tilts (moves) the TV camera 2 (in the vertical direction) by vertical rotation. A monitor 5 for inputting a video signal from the TV camera 2 and an operation controller 6 for controlling the operations of the TV camera 2 and the tripod head 4 are disposed in an operation chamber or the like.
According to such an apparatus, by operating the tripod head 4 by the operation controller 6, the TV camera 2 is directed in any given direction and the operation of the camera such as zooming and focusing is controlled by the lens portion 1. A shot is taken while the preset conditions (parameters) of panning, tilting, zooming (magnification) and focusing (focal length) are satisfied. That is, in the base picture displayed on the monitor 5 in FIG. 13, each shooting parameter which corresponds to the selected positions A, B, C, D . . . is recorded and preset for the respective buttons a, b, c, d . . . of a switch 7. By appropriate operation of the buttons a, b, c, d . . . of the switch 7, it is therefore possible take a shot at predetermined positions. A conventional tripod head control apparatus is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 228473/1984.
In the above,described conventional TV camera work control apparatus using a tripod head, however, since the plurality of shot positions A, B, C, D . . . are selected optionally, it is difficult to know the correspondence of the shot positions A, B, C, D . . . and the buttons a, b, c, d . . . of the switch 7. In other words, after the shot positions A, B, C, D . . . are set, it is impossible to confirm these positions on the screen, so that the operator judges to which shot positions the buttons a, b, c, d . . . of the switch 7 respectively correspond from the memory of the operator or the notes jotted down by the operator. As a result, there is a possibility of taking a shot at different shot positions by mistake and it is not easy to take a shot at the correct positions.
It is also laborious to set parameters for panning, tilting, zooming (magnification) and focusing (focal length) for each of the buttons a, b, c, d . . . of the switch 7. The more the number of parameters, the more laborious the shooting operation becomes and the more time is necessary for setting the parameters, which is waste of time.